JULIAN OPIE, WALKING IN THE RAIN, SEOUL, WALKING IN THE RAIN SERIES, SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 50, 2015
Julian Opie’s Walking In the Rain, Seoul, taken from his Walking In The Rain series (2015) shows a set of full-length figures striding across the picture plane in a frieze-like composition. The print shows great variety in clothing and footwear so as to distinguish between the faceless figures. Colourful umbrellas dominate the top of the image and Opie portrays an abundance of technology working to create a highly dynamic image.
Opie has a strong interest in depicting images of people in the rain stating that, ‘I realised rain created a whole new world, umbrellas went up, people’s postures and the whole mood changed. I have always liked the rain, the sense of isolation it creates as the world shrinks and everything gets dark and glossy.’
Captured in the artist’s structured, graphic language, Walking In The Rain, Seoul encapsulates contemporary life in Seoul in a way that makes the viewer think about their own body in relation to the compelling image. Opie rationalises the human form in a decidedly stylised manner, striking a balance between the soft and human, and the hard and artificial, producing an uncanny effect. Undertaking a task that has preoccupied artists for generations, Opie captures modern life in an entirely unique way
Read more about Walking In The Rain by Julian Opie.
ABOUT JULIAN OPIE
British artist Julian Opie challenges traditional approaches to portraiture through his digitally designed and seemingly contradictory, depersonalised works. Working also with landscapes and cityscapes, Opie’s highly stylised work involves the reduction of photographs or short films into figurative reproductions created using computer software. The hallmarks of his artistic style are portraits and animated walking figures, rendered with minimal detail in black line drawing. Learn more about Julian Opie.
